THE FRENCH REVOLUTION: A HISTORY. IN THREE VOLUMES

London: James Fraser, 1837.. Three volumes. vii,404; vii,422,[2]; vii,448pp. Uniform half brown patterned cloth and drab paper-covered boards, printed paper labels. Edges and corners rubbed, front joint of second and third volumes partially split, labels worn and darkened. Bindings somewhat shaken, with all hinges cracked but cords holding strong; occasional gatherings standing proud. Bookplate on each front pastedown, minor scattered foxing to first few and last few leaves of each volume. Withal, a very good set in contemporary bindings. Untrimmed. In a red half morocco clamshell case, spine gilt. The first edition of Carlyle's classic study of the French Revolution, complete with all half titles and the integral advertisement leaf in the second volume, in its original, contemporary binding, and with all edges untrimmed. Carlyle arranged his work in three parts, the first subtitled "The Bastille," the second part "The Constitution," and the final part "The Guillotine."

"Of the three great political upheavals which have altered the face of the earth - the American, French and Russian Revolutions - only the French has stimulated literary masterpieces which, in turn, have made their impact, direct and indirect, upon millions of readers who would have, and have, left unread the productions of dispassionate scholarship. They are Carlyle's book and the 'History of the French Revolution' by Michelet. Carlyle wrote his French Revolution as a secular 'tract for the times' and as a warning for his compatriots of the frightful consequences of materialism, utilitarianism and democracy. Scottish puritanism and German romanticism were his lodestars; 'History is the essence of innumerable biographies' was his historical creed. The result is not a work of scholarship but a prose epic, teeming with colorful scenes of dramatic events and imaginative portraits of the leading revolutionaries. The book at once captured the English-speaking world, and has, outside France, moulded popular conceptions of the French Revolution down to the present day" - PRINTING AND THE MIND OF MAN.

Copies of Carlyle's work rarely appear in original condition, as here. PRINTING AND THE MIND OF MAN 304. DYER, p.85. TARR A8.1.